First of all, how do you know how they vote in Iraq, or how it differs from this country? Secondly, elections are about as corrupt in this country as many other countries. For example, the voting polls stayed open until 10 PM in St. Louis -- long enough to ensure that a dead man beat John Ashcroft. Jimmy Carter has refereed many elections in banana republics and declared them open and free. Where's the freedom in those countries? My point is this: Freedom does not come from voting -- it comes only when individual Rights (not privileges) are protected. The State has been substituting privileges for Rights for so long you apparently haven't even recognized that we have lost most individual Rights.